Two New Names On US Terror Tip Reward List

The U.S. government has announced reward money this week for information leading to the capture of men they have classified as top African terrorists affiliated with al Qaeda, including Algerian Mokhtar Belmokhtar and the head of Nigeria’s Boko Haram organization.

The Rewards for Justice program overseen by the State Department, promises financial payment for tips that lead to the capture or death of terrorists around the world. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks against America, al Qaeda leaders and operatives, including Osama bin Laden, have comprised the majority of the most-wanted names on the list.

According to the State Department list, Ayman al Zawahiri, who has taken the place of bin Laden, has the largest price on his head, at $25 million. That was the same bounty offered for his Saudi predecessor.

The rash of terrorist attacks across northern Africa this year, including the Algerian natural gas complex attack that killed three Americans, has thrown the spotlight on efforts by al Qaeda affiliates to destabilize a new part of the world.

Included in the reward listing posted this week is Belmokhtar, the leader of the al Qaeda-linked al Mua’qi’oon Biddam, or the Those Who Sign in Blood Brigade. The reward for information regarding his whereabouts is $5 million.

Belmokhtar’s forces led the attack on the Algerian gas operation. In May they launched two suicide assaults in Niger against a military barracks in Agadez and a uranium mine. They were reportedly the first suicide attacks in the African nation, which has recently stepped up military and counterterrorism cooperation with the United States.

Belmokhtar split with al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb last December due to leadership issues with the group, but he reportedly remains in direct contact with al Qaeda’s main leadership in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The U.S. government has put a higher bounty on another African terrorist suspect: Nigeria’s Abubakar Shekau. The price on his head is $7 million, putting him in the leagues of top al Qaeda commanders from Yemen and Somalia.

Boko Haram is waging a war to topple Nigeria’s government and replace it with an Islamic state much like that Taliban created in Afghanistan, according to U.S. officials.

The Nigerian organization has launched dozens of suicide attacks in Nigeria and hundreds of armed attacks across the northern part of the country.

Shekau has also targeted Western interests in Nigeria, including a suicide attack in 2011 against the United Nations headquarters in the capital Abuja that killed 21 people.

The Rewards for Justice program has paid more than $100 million to over 70 people who provided information that prevented international terrorist attacks or helped bring to justice those involved in prior acts. Suspects captured as a result of such tips include the sons of Saddam Hussein and Ramzi Yousef, the man responsible for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.